• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2009

A zwitterionic surfactant shows not only detergency but also softening effect since it shows characteristics of a nonionic or an anionic surfactant above an isoelectric point, while showing characteristics of a cationic surfactant below an isoelectric point. Therefore, a zwitterionic surfactant can serve as a dual function surfactant by a single molecule through the interconversion of cleaning and softening effects depending on pH of the aqueous solution. In this study, the dual function characteristics of an amine oxide zwitterionic surfactant were investigated by measuring the zeta potential and the isoelectric point using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). In addition, the physical properties of an amine oxide surfactant such as critical micelle concentration, surface tension, interfacial tension, contact angle and viscosity were measured and phase behavior study was also performed. The isoelectric point of an amine oxide surfactant determined by zeta potential measurement was near 7.35 and that obtained by QCM experiment was about 7.4, where both results were found to be close to the value reported in the literature.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.291-298
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• 2016

In this study, zwitterionic surfactants were added to liposome systems at different pH conditions to understand the effect of surfactants on liposome characteristics. For this purpose, amine oxide surfactants having different hydrocarbon chain lengths were synthesized and the structure of the resulting product was elucidated by using $^1H$ NMR, $^{13}C$ NMR, and FT-IR. In addition, the physical properties of newly synthesized surfactants such as critical micelle concentration (CMC), surface tension and isoelectric point were measured. The stability characteristics of liposome systems including average particle sizes and zeta potentials were measured by varying pH and hydrocarbon chain lengths of an amine oxide surfactant. Effects of the pH and hydrocarbon chain length of an amine oxide surfactant on fluidity of a liposome membrane were also examined by measuring the deformability and the binding degree between the surfactant and liposome.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.960-968
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• 2012

In this study, the measurement of physical properties of 3 different ethylene oxide adducted zwitterionic surfactants were measured such as critical micelle concentration, surface tension, interfacial tension, contact angle, viscosity and foam stability. Also, the dual function characteristics of the zwitterionic surfactants were investigated by determining an isoelectric point, which were obtained using zeta potential measurement and QCM (quartz crystal microbalance) experiments. The isoelectric point of the synthesized zwitterionic surfactant determined by zeta potential measurement was close to that obtained by QCM experiment and both results have shown almost the same trend as that determined by the frictional property measured using an automated mildness tester. In particular, it has been observed that all three surfactants used during this study provide better softening effect at a pH of neutral condition than at an acidic or an alkaline condition. This result indicates that the synthesized surfactants act as a cationic surfactant at a pH of neutral condition and thus provide good softening effect during a rinsing cycle in the detergency process.